Improvement in shoes



JQE. BEASLEY.

SHOES. No.180',741. Patented Aug. 8.1876.

NPEFERS. FHOTB-LITNOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON. D c.

' UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOHN E. BEASLEY, OF LEBANON, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 180,741, dated August 8, 1876; application tiled April 13, 1874.

.To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN E. BEAsLEY, of Lebanon, in the county of Boone and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes, of which the following is a specification: l

This invention has for its object to provide a tongue for shoes which can be manufactured with ease and celerity, and at a comparatively small oost, and which, when applied to a shoe, will serve to etl'ectually close the front of the same, for the purpose of excluding water and dirt.

The invention consists in a tongue formed of a single piece ot' leather, which is crimped or pressed into shape, so as to open or close or expand and collapse in the manner of an ordinary bellows, by which means, when the vamp or tongue is applied to a shoe of an ordinary form, the same is closed in front in order to exclude water and dirt.

ln the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a perspective view of a shoe having my tongue applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the vamp or tongue, showing the manner in which the same is crimped.

In shoes a's heretofore made, with open fronts, it has been impossible to obtain by means of the ordinary tongue or vamp a water and dirt excluding front. It has been proposed to remedy this defect by uniting the tongue or separate pieces attached thereto with the quarterpiece of theshoe; but this plan is defective, as it entails increased expense and labor Without attaining the desired object.

Myinvention is designed to furnish effectual and simple means for closing the front of a shoe in such a manner that the same may be worn with ease and comfort, and be rendered water and dirt proof.

Referring to the drawing, A designates the tongue of a shoe, which is cut and shaped so as to conform at its edges with the top of the upper B and the front edges of the quarter C. The tongue is crimped into shape, so as to form in one and the same operation a pair of lateral leaves or tongues, a a, and the intermediate or central tongues b c, having the curved form of the instep, and thus the entire tongue is susceptible of collapsing and expanding in the manner of ordinary bellows.

The tongue is formed by any preferred mechanism which is capable of crimping the same uniformly and the different leaves simultaneously; but I have found the ordinary boot-brake to be the most effectual and simple device for shaping the tongue.

The tongue is capable of being used in connection with an ordinaryopen-front shoe, or even a gaiter-shoe, as it is possible to attach the tongue to the quarter in a simple and ready manner. ln the present instance the folding or bellows7 tongue is attached to the quarter of the shoe by the same eyeletswhich receive the lacing-strings; butother special fastening devices can be resorted to, if desired.

A shoe having my form of tongue applied thereto will be closed ei'ectually in front, so as to render it impossible for water or dirt to enter the same. Furthermore, by reason of the particular form of folding tongue, every facility is offered for spreading the shoe apart in placing it on the foot, and when the shoe is laced or drawn together the tongue Will be folded together, so as to form no projecting creases or ridges liable to bear on the foot of the wearer.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- The shoe-tongue A, formed of a single piece of leather, with the lateral leaves a a and the intermediate leaves b c, and crimped in the direction of its length to conform to the shape of the instep, and adapted to be secured to an ordinary shoe, and to be folded over the instep, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of April, 1874.

JOHN E. BEASLEY.

Witnesses HENRY HICKS, PHILIP SGHULMYER. 

